Good morning all. Here’s what’s going on in the news on this amazing fall day. No, seriously, it’s pretty much ideal outside right now so take a minute to go outside for a smoke break or to get some coffee or do some jumping jacks or pull ups on a street sign or something. I’ll wait.
OK. Back? Here we go. Maybe you’ve heard about the fact that our fair city was a’courtin one heck of a catch recently, but came away heartbroken. The object of our affection is really, really rich, into engineering and science stuff and already has a pretty close relationship with us. But when we tried to take that relationship to the next level, we were spurned because our elders have some conflicting political viewpoints.
I’m talking about the fact that General Electric won’t be locating its corporate headquarters in Ohio at least in part because four high-level GOP politicians in the state oppose renewing the authority of the federal Export-Import Bank, which underwrites loans for companies that do lots of exporting. GE, which already has more employees in Ohio than any other state, does more exporting than any other company here. U.S. Reps. Steve Chabot and Brad Wenstrup, both hailing from the Cincinnati area, as well as Ohio Gov. John Kasich and tea party firebrand Rep. Jim Jordan from Urbana all oppose the so-called Ex-Im Bank, saying that the private market could do a better job financing the corporate export game.
It’s a little like having your crush over to your house when you’re a teenager and then your dad starts talking about the constitution while wearing a Gadsen flag T-shirt, only there are like, four dads and your crush employs thousands upon thousands of people. Hard to know who to root for here. On the one hand, I feel like corporations should get federal money exactly never and shouldn’t be throwing their political weight around. On the other hand, well, tea party nuttiness. Other politicians, including most Democrats in the state, support the Ex-Im bank, which is the flip side ideologically of what you’d think it would be. Kind of a lame situation all around.
• Western & Southern Financial Group President and CEO John Barrett discussed the company’s plans for a whole corner of downtown Cincinnati yesterday at a gathering for real-estate professionals. Barrett outlined plans for new restaurants, rooftop bars and other attractions in the area around Lytle Park in downtown’s southeastern corner, near where the company’s headquarters are located. Among the attractions will be a luxury hotel in the building that formerly housed the Anna Louise Inn, a women’s shelter, for more than 100 years. Western & Southern’s real estate arm, Eagle Realty, purchased that building after protracted legal wrangling with Cincinnati Union Bethel, which runs the shelter now located in Mount Auburn. I could tell you more about the awesome swanky rooftop bars and glitzy restaurants planned for the area, but I’d rather just pose a question: Since when does the CEO of a corporation, even one who’s been in the neighborhood since 1901, get to plan what a big chunk of the city looks like? I could go further but I’m just going to leave that right there because I’m a reporter and we don’t actually have opinions.
• Will the media be allowed to continue covering a trial involving a racially charged confrontation in June between police and pool-goers in Fairfield? That’s up for debate. A 12-year-old and 15-year-old are charged in Butler County Courts with resisting arrest in connection with that incident. The 12-year-old is also charged with assaulting an officer, and the 15-year-old with disorderly conduct. Attorneys for the juveniles have requested that press be barred from the ongoing court proceedings. The incident caught national attention after cell phone video emerged of the family in question being asked to leave the pool and subsequently being arrested. They and their supporters say police used inappropriate force during that incident and that their removal stems from the fact they are black. They’ve asked that charges against the children be dropped. Fairfield Police, however, say they were justified in their use of force and will be proceeding with the charges against the children.
• A meeting yesterday of Cincinnati’s Fraternal Order of Police yielded a vote of confidence in CPD’s interim chief Eliot Isaacs. That’s a big turnaround from the meeting's original purpose, which was to express no confidence in now-ousted chief Jeffrey Blackwell. Isaac is an insider with the department, having spent more than 25 years with CPD. Officers within the department had said morale was at a very low point due to communication issues, outdated equipment and low staffing. Those complaints came as controversy swirled around Blackwell, who garnered praise for his approach to community relations but criticism for his handling of internal affairs within the department. Blackwell’s supporters maintain he was fighting impossible headwinds within CPD as a chief hired from the outside against the wishes of incoming mayor John Cranley.
• Local families of those killed in police shootings will rally this Saturday at the University of Cincinnati, then march to the spot in Mount Auburn where Samuel Dubose was shot and killed earlier this summer. That rally will start at 6 p.m. in front of the UC police center at 51 W. Corry St. The families of Samuel Dubose, Samantha Ramsey, Tamir Rice and John Crawford III are expected to attend and address the crowd before marching.
• Finally, are you happy right now? Like, actually happy? According to a new study released by finance website WalletHub.com, the chances you answered yes to that question are much lower here in Ohio or Kentucky than in many other states. Wallethub’s recent ranking of happiest and least-happy states did not look favorably on the Tri-state. Ohio ranked 43 out of the 50 states plus Washington D.C. and Kentucky ranked 49. Ouch. At least Indiana ranked a little higher at 38. The study took into account depression rates, sleep surveys, suicide rates, average work hours, income growth, unemployment rates and other factors to give a rough indication of the happiest places in the U.S. Number one? Utah, of all places. Number two was Minnesota, somehow, which you’ll have to ask CityBeat reporter Natalie Krebs about, since she hails from the land of cold-ass winters and weird accents. Just kidding Natalie, I’m sure it’s great up there.
